Blog - Page 310 of 318 - John H Armstrong

My Love for Baseball and Anita

By John Armstrong|2005-08-19T16:20:51-05:00August 19th, 2005|Categories: Baseball|

I took a trip today. It is the kind of trip that my wife teases me about mercilessly. It was "a trip down memory lane." I attended the Hall of Fame Luncheon for the Atlanta Braves at the 755 Club at Turner Field in Atlanta. The luncheon allowed me to relive history as we celebrated the 1995 World Championship Braves team. The Braves also inducted professional scout Paul Snyder and Boston Beaneater Herman Long into their Hall of Fame. The occasion was further used to pay tribute to some of Snyder’s former prospects: members of the 1995 World Series championship squad. The whole event was loads of fun.

During the ceremony, attending members of the 1995 team held a question and answer session. The most interesting speaker of all was David Justice, who was, and still is, one outspoken guy. DJ talked about facing your fears, about real determination to succeed, and of the serious dedication needed for a team to win. He saw all three of these as the keys to winning. He also talked about how much fun these guys […]

Why I Thank God for Rick Warren

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:56-05:00August 18th, 2005|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

The more I see and listen to pastor and author Rick Warren the more I like him. He strikes me as totally unimpressed with himself and completely committed to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

Don’t get me wrong. I am inclined to think that Warren’s "purpose driven" concept is a good one but the content he pours into it is not purposeful enough. To put it another way his definition of purpose is just too small. This is where a more theologically developed view of divine purpose would help him if he studied, and used, the great Protestant catechisms. (The next issue of our Reformation & Revival Journal has a marvelous serious article on this very point written by theologian Jonathan Wilson; cf. Volume 14, Number 2, Reformation & Revival Journal.)

But Rick Warren is a man of integrity, a man who speaks with simple clarity and a very big heart. He comes across, at least on television, as caring and very soft spoken. In contrast to some of our more harsh spokespersons in our evangelical movements he […]

Life Really Is a Lot Like Baseball

By John Armstrong|2005-08-17T22:30:37-05:00August 17th, 2005|Categories: Baseball|

Life is a lot like baseball. Former slugger Frank Howard put my point well: "The trouble with baseball is that by the time you learn how to play it, you can’t play it anymore." So very true.

Yeas of dedicated hard work, constant repetitions, and honing little things into real skills for the long haul all go into learning this game. It all looks quite easy on television but believe me it is never easy. I stepped into a batting cage a few weeks ago at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. I was never a great hitter I assure you. But I had not seen a ball thrown toward me, with a thirty-four ounce bat in hand, for more than twenty years. And the machine threw it at only forty-five miles an hour, half the speed of a major league fastball. I flinched, ducked and moved back on the first pitches I saw. After dinging a few harmlessly I finally found a groove and hit a few hard. Hooray for me. Then in my sense of pleasure I realized, "This […]

Biblical Counseling Pros and Cons

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:56-05:00August 16th, 2005|Categories: Counseling|

A few weeks ago (June 20, 2005) I wrote an article on Biblical Counseling that created considerable response, both pro and con. (See Weekly Messenger archives at www.reformationrevival.com.) I am always grateful for genuinely kind letters in response to my Weekly Messenger articles. Often the reality is that my readers have considerably different approaches, all of which would be worthy material for a respectful dialogue and serious public discourse. I can not respond to all of these replies as I would like. I do try. Sometimes this blog spot will allow this to happen.

One very good letter I did receive stated that the writer shared mutual concerns about biblical counseling. Since I was not sure what these concerns were it was very hard to respond to them point by point. I have found that most in the movement that bears the name, "biblical counseling," rarely cite their own concerns about their variously defined movement. An objective history that sees the good things this movement has done for the church (since about 1970), as well […]

Inclusiveness and Diversity

By John Armstrong|2005-08-13T09:40:58-05:00August 13th, 2005|Categories: Sexuality|

The old Protestant denominations in America are at a crossroads. There can be no "peace" within their bounds until they decide to fully and openly embrace the Christian faith without dissimulation.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) faced a major crossroads this past week. This came after three years of deliberation. The vote was right but the leaders flinched big time! Time will tell if the results are catastrophic but the prognosis is not good unless the Lord intervenes in ways that we cannot see on the near horizon.

Yesterday, the national assembly of the ELCA rejected a proposal to allow non-celibate gays and lesbians, in committed relationships, to be ordained as ministers. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the vote was only 51% to 49% against the measure. Another measure to "bless" same-sex marriages was also narrowly defeated.

The reports coming from Orlando in today’s news suggest that both sides saw the vote as inconclusive. Small wonder since the assembly also overwhelming approved a resolution on unity in hopes of preventing further defections. […]

Great Movements: Control or Co-op?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:56-05:00August 11th, 2005|Categories: Emergent Church|

My retreat with the Mars Hill elders ended today. It was a sweet time of building relationships with new friends. I am honored to have served these dear men and their wives. On my flight back to Seattle this afternoon Mark Driscoll and I chatted about a number of things in our personal history. One conversation we shared is hugely important to me.

I am not an advocate of the way my generation has built growing ministries and alliances. Most grow out of the vision and gifting of one hugely successful leader. I have no problem with this reality. The simple fact is that God uses a man or a woman to do his work and often singularly uses visionary type-A people. This success that a leader enjoys may come through a large church, a succesful book (or series of books), or a popular conference ministry, you name it. This will not change. It is the nature of human relationships that leaders who enjoy wide favor for any reason will use that favor to build relationships for a cause or a movement. The […]

The Strength of a Team

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:57-05:00August 11th, 2005|Categories: Emergent Church|

As I noted yesterday I am in California on a four day retreat with the elders and staff of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. The three days I have enjoyed to this point have been remarkable. Honestly, I have longed for several decades to see what I am experiencing this week. A group of fourteen men, using very different gifts and personalities, have become a "team" for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. I see no rivalry, I sense no jealousy, and I have found each man committed to one another and to the success of the mission that unites them. It is the kind of chemistry that you see when a team melds into one unit and wins.

What makes this possible begins with an incredibly gifted leader in Mark Driscoll. But I have known incredible leaders before. Mark is different. He is strong, secure and knows he has been given great gifts as well. But he leads in a manner that allows others to enjoy their place in the work, to have real fun doing it, and to share in the […]

Church Planting

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:57-05:00August 9th, 2005|Categories: Evangelism|

I am in northern California this week, at a lovely, secluded ranch on the Pacific Ocean called "The Lost Coast." I am here to teach the elders and staff of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I wrote about Mars Hill in May on this blog spot. It is an "Emergent" style church, though far more doctrinally sharp and clear than many such churches.

In conversation yesterday I learned that in the Acts 29 Network, an outgrowth of the vision of Mark Driscoll who founded Mars Hill, member churches are expected to invest 10% of their monies in church planting right from the start. This principle helps even the smallest church to see that it must plant churches or loose its missional vision. These monies are not given to a central budget nor do they fund huge overhead costs but go directly to planters and groups who are "doing it."

A healthy church clearly has a particular missional element in its DNA. When this type of material is missing in the DNA of a church trouble is on the […]

A Deposit in the Bank of Media Compassion

By John Armstrong|2005-08-05T20:16:42-05:00August 5th, 2005|Categories: Current Affairs|

Former Illinois govenor George Ryan is not just another hack politician trying to use Christianity for his own purposes. Ryan is a master user, a disgusting national role model, a con artist who paints the moral pictures we have come to expect from many of our politicians.

George Ryan is the former Republican governor of Illinoiswho pardoned a whole pacel of death row inmates on his last day in office a few years ago. He wiped out the death penalty by unadulterated fiat, at least for a time. Defending his actions again this week, while speaking in a Methodist Church, Ryan said that he did this because "Jesus told us to love our enemies and to turn the other cheek." Well, thanks George for the lesson in biblical ethics.

George Ryan is scheduled to stand trial this September on federal corruption charges. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass noted in today’s Tribune that Ryan is "reaching out to just any voter" these days as he tries to impress potential jurors who might sit in judgement on his actions. Says Kass, "He […]

Soulless: More About Hillary Clinton

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:57-05:00August 4th, 2005|Categories: Politics|

A people who will to be led poorly will always be led poorly. A corrupt populace will be granted what it wants through the presence of corrupt leaders. These things go almost without saying. When you begin to grasp the mind and core values of Senator Hillary Clinton you soon realize just how corrupt and driven this woman really is. Hillary, being a "gender-feminist," sees relationships and issues as battles. And she is determined to win every battle possible. This is an unmistakably clear point made over and over by Edward Klein in his new book, The Truth About Hillary (New York: Sentinel, 2005).

Klein allows the reader to see privately how the late New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan viewed the woman who eventually took his Senate seat. Moynihan was an old school liberal Democrat with honor and class. He was also a noble, decent and highly-regarded man who was loved and respected across the wide partisan divides of Washington.

Klein notes that Moynihan was very often disappointed by how Bill Clinton failed to take good advice. Klein says […]