Blog - Page 314 of 318 - John H Armstrong

An Acton Institute Forum in Grand Rapids

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:02-05:00June 17th, 2005|Categories: Culture|

I wrote last year (Weekly Messenger) on the valuable work of the Acton Insitute. I attended an Acton Conference on the theme: "Toward a Free and Virtuous Society." This event was held in Connecticut last August. I deeply appreciated it and thus I decided to attend another Acton event in Grand Rapids this week (June 14-18). This current event is a symposium made up of different tracks of study and fellowship on subjects like globalization, effective compassion, and business, faith and ethics.

The group I am attending is titled, "Business, Faith and Ethics." It is part of Acton’s Center for Entrepreneurial Stewardship. I have been in a room with twenty-five successful business entrepreneurs and one other mission related person, a leader in the Christian Reformed Church. This is not my normal venue so it has been fun to sit back, say very little, and seek to better understand a world quite apart from my own Christian non-profit mission.

Yesterday we discusssed questions like, "Who am I?" and "What is my work?" Work is a source of satisfaction or frustation for all […]

More on Fundamentalism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:03-05:00June 16th, 2005|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

I have received several comments re: my three-part Weekly Messenger series on fundamentalism (May 23, 30 and June 6). Here is another response, sent to me second-hand.

Armstrong’s articles on fundamentalism were disappointing. It was all over the map, i.e. unclear. It also seemed to conclude that our belief in the truth rests in seeing the events of Christ as being factual and the only way this happens is when the Spirit works in our hearts. Where does this leave us when people claim to be moved by the Spirit to contradictory interpretations of thefacts of Christ? This is surely another form of irrational emotionalism. It is also very dangerous for him to say that there is a difference between divine revelation and the Bible. I guess he is fighting against a narrow biblicism, i.e. worship of the Bible. But who does that? It is a straw man.

What about what Josiah required in 2 Kings 22 and 23. All the people were to listen to the Lord as he spoke to them in the book of the covenant. This was the […]

Some Lessons at Valley Forge

By John Armstrong|2005-06-15T08:50:54-05:00June 15th, 2005|Categories: Evangelism|

I went to Valley Forge National Park (Pennsylvania) on Saturday, June 11. It amazed me to see the stark log huts that were hastily built to house thousands of General Washington’s troops so they could endure the infamous winter of 1777-78.

The story is fairly well known. Washington retreated to Valley Forge because the British had captured Philadelphia in 1777. The American revolutionaries had already tasted battle, both defeat and success. At this point they needed to retreat, to regroup, and to prepare themselves to fight again. But winter was upon them and they had few supplies and no safe place near Philadelphia for their winter encampment. The story of the harshness of that famous winter is part of American legend. In reality it was not that unusual a winter, just "suffering as usual" as one later put it. Privation was the soldier’s constant lot. Their sacrifice was immense.

As I drove across the fields of the Valley Forge National Park, stopped my car and waked about, I looked at the various buildings that remained. I gazed into the simple huts […]

Beethoven, Heavy Metal and My Dog Neo

By John Armstrong|2005-06-14T09:32:00-05:00June 14th, 2005|Categories: Culture|

I knew there had to be research somewhere that would unquestionably demonstrate the value of Beethoven over heavy metal, even for my dachshund Neo. Now I have the "proof." The Bide-A-Wee Animal Shelter in New York has discovered, reports the Christian Science Monitor, that classical music quiets and calms homeless dogs in a local shelter.

Researchers have long argued that music has a positive effect upon humans. Now shelter workers, dog trainers, groomers and boarding kennel operators are using music to calm their cannine friends. The vice-president of Bide-A-Wee says "Shelters are inherently a stressful environment." I guess, barking all day long does get old real fast even for dog lovers like me. But by playing Beethoven and Mozart not only is baby happier but dog noise levels can be reduced by 25%. And the pay-off, as the shelter vice-president notes, is that "Potential adopters are getting to see the dogs in a better light." Less and less homeless dogs sounds like a good deal to me.

And now we have some real science to prove a major conclusion about […]

Kenneth Taylor: A Life Lived Well

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:03-05:00June 13th, 2005|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

Kenneth Taylor, whose "Living Bible" introduced a generation to the Scriptures in conversational English lived about two minutes from my home. Dr. Taylor died peacefully on Friday, June 11, at the age of 88.

Ken Taylor was a graduate of Wheaton College and Northern Baptist Seminary. He represents one of the stalwarts of "the greatest generation." His legacy will most likely remain for several generations to come.

I knew Ken Taylor, but not exceptionally well. I know some of his children and grandchildren even better. His funeral sermon will be preached in Edman Chapel at Wheaton College, on Wednesday morning, by my dear friend, Dr. Wendell Hawley. Wendell served on our staff and board for several years. It was through Wendell, who knew Ken Taylor so well and worked with him closely for nearly thirty years at Tyndale House Publishers, that I came to know a great deal more about the private life of Ken Taylor.

I have three distinct memories of meeting Ken Taylor personally. First, as a college student, I attended a BIble class he taught […]

Is God Done with Europe?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:03-05:00June 10th, 2005|Categories: The Church|

The Atlantic Times, a German monthly, recently reported that faith in Europe shows new signs of spiritual life. This goes against most popular understanding regarding the influence of Christian spirituality in the lands of the Reformation.

Sociologists like Boston University’s Peter L. Berger argue against this report by saying: “There are a few upturns on some values . . . but [these] are not very dramatic.” He adds, in good sociological fashion, “I do not expect significant changes.”

But religion writer Uwe Siemon-Netto, a contributor to our ministry, correctly notes that “faith is not bound by the rigors of science.” And, Siemon-Netto adds, “Knowledgeable observers claim that for all the disastrous numbers showing religion’s decline in Christianity’s former heartland, the Holy Spirit seems to be at work in France.” Christianity Today noted the same in a recent issue. And well-known Protestant theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg observes that “atheism is in decline.”

Peter Berger does admit that there are some “unquantifiable upturns” in parts of Europe. These upturns include the increasing number of young people from non-religious parents who have shown […]

When Secondary Issues Become Core Issues

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:04-05:00June 9th, 2005|Categories: The Church|

My recent three-part series on fundamentalism (Weekly Messenger May 23, 30 and June 6) has drawn some expected response, both pro and con. I will respond to several comments, on this blog spot, in the next few days. The following comment is a good place to begin:

He (i.e. me) seems to have more trouble with people making secondary issues core issues of the faith, i.e. how you view the gifts of the Spirit, women’sroles, etc. This is a real problem. But the problem of fundamentalism has typically been an anti-intellectualism and adding of traditions to Scripture that are held to have equal authority with Scriptural teaching, i.e. no drinking of alcoholic beverages, no dancing, dressing drably, etc.

I find this comment fairly typical of the response I expected. People who do not "see" the modern evangelical world as I outlined it do not, of course, think that there really is a problem. Is the writer of this comment ready to say that making secondary issues into core issues is, as he admits, a "real problem"? If he says "yes" then why […]

Poeima: A New Church for Tempe

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:04-05:00June 7th, 2005|Categories: Emergent Church|

John Mitchell is a forty-two year old visionary. He has served on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for eleven years. Then for seven years he was a pastor, serving the past four plus years as pastor of evangelism and discipleship in a large suburban evangelical boomer church. His heart is deeply moved to plant a church that will reach 20’s and 30’s, a drifting generation of adults without moorings. John and Deborah Mitchell move to Tempe, Arizona, next week to launch Poeima, a new "emergent" church (www.poeimachurch.com). John and I both think the "emergent" description needs to go sooner than later so I will increasingly try to find ways to refer to this generation, and this type of evangelism, without this not-so-helpful term. But for now, at least, I will call John’s vision "emergent."

John got this burden for evangelism by discipling this particular generation and by understanding several basic things about them. This is a generation that generally thinks "wrong" is an opinion and truth is a "myth." Meaning is what you make it to be and there simply are […]

The Church of Personal Preference

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:04-05:00June 6th, 2005|Categories: Personal|

Most Americans have heard the Burger King advertising slogan for years. It simply says: "Have It Your Way." The idea behind the slogan is clear–Burger King stores will prepare a hamburger just the way you like them. If you want mustard, pickles and lettuce, without the tomatoes, just ask. If you want ketchup, and no mustard, all you have to do is make your wish known. And this additional promise is made clear: "Special orders don’t upset us." Fast and efficient delivery of your meal is always the goal, thus the promise to you the customer.

Sometimes the promises of ad agencies parallel the promises churches make. When we buy into marketing deeply we can begin to believe that the real key to reaching the unchurched is to allow the seeker (customer) to have things his/her way. You can come to our church, we promise you, and here you will get what you were looking for in real religion. And if you make a special request we will bend heaven and hell to meet it. You are the goal, your wish is […]

What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:05-05:00June 4th, 2005|Categories: Politics|

Public policy debates are important for a healthy democracy. Christians need to engage these debates actively, not sitting out the issues that impact good life in our earthly civil communities. Why? The simple answer is that we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

But Christians engaging public policy as purpose, and Christians speaking as partisans who decry the motives and actions of others who "lack faith," are not necessarily the same. This why I spoke against the idea of Justice Sunday in fundamentalist churches around the country a few weeks ago. This issue continues to underscore the distinctions I think we must make when Christians engage the larger public sphere outside the family of the church.

The organizers of Justice Sunday gave the strong impression, by both their words and actions, that those who supported the Senate filibuster over judges were hostile to real Christian faith. This observation about their words and actions is not just my personal impression. The facts bear out this conclusion.

J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, has summarized […]