Blog - Page 41 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Leadership and the Proverbs

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 27th, 2014|Categories: Books, Leadership|

As a result of my wide opportunities for travel, and through partnering with many different ministries, I am afforded the unique opportunity of meeting and making many new friends in a variety of contexts. On such friend is Dr. Robert Yost, author of the extremely useful book, Leadership Secrets from the Proverbs: An Examination of Leadership Principles from the Book of Proverbs (Wipf & Stock, 2013).

Bob Yost gives the reader a scholarly study of the book of Proverbs that gives proper attention to the important questions about the text and the canonical nature of the literature. At the same time he keeps the reader carefully attuned to the essential leadership principles of the book and puts it clearest principles into the hands of practitioners who are in need of this kind of biblical material. Look, there are a lot of great books on leadership and there are a ton of popular books that are not so great but sell a lot of copies and get a lot of attention. But very few of these popular books looks […]

Sex Trafficking in the United States: Do You Know The Problem?

By John Armstrong|2014-02-21T09:11:14-06:00February 26th, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, Culture, Current Affairs, Sexuality|

I confess that I knew something about global sex-trafficking. I did not realize that this problem was an issue within the United States. This video stunned me and makes me want to see the whole movie when it is released. It challenges us to pray, get involved, get more information and do something to save lives wherever possible. I will not be the same after watching this trailer/presentation. I hope the same will be true for you as well.

“This Blows Me Away”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 25th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

There are times in our lives when something happens that, as we like to say, “Blows us away.” This American slang expression is a popular way of saying, “I am speechless. I am deeply moved. I cannot explain how I feel or even why.”

For a Christian I believe what “blows us away” is ultimately the deep discovery of God’s eternal love in the most ultimate and life-transforming sense. Anything other than Jesus, and his incarnate and holy love, should never be more important (or truly surprising) to us. Discovering his love again and again, over the course of nearly sixty-five years, has altered my life day-by-day. He has provided, and is now providing, everything for me in Jesus Christ. He continues to amaze me with his love every single day. (In this case this revelation, and the experience that has gone with it, were given to me by the Holy Spirit so all boasting, which Paul exhorts us to do, is in Christ!)

In 1992 when God first spoke to me deeply from John 17:21 he began to show me how he would use the remainder of […]

In Search of Deep Faith

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 24th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Books, Church History, Church Tradition, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Education, Emergent Church, Faith, Missional Church, Personal, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church|

I had the joy of meeting Dr. Jim Belcher some years ago when he pastored Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. I cultivated a growing relationship with Jim, and his family, and spoke several times to his congregation. I was loved and honored and thus retain great memories of those days where Jim and I shared ministry together. Jim eventually wrote a great book that many of you have read – Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional (InterVarsity, 2009). If you have not read this book it is a must for a balanced and deeply thoughtful treatment about our present moment and how to think and live missionally and intentionally. I was able to contribute a very small part of my life to serving Jim in the making of this fine book, a book which received two awards in 2010: The Christianity Today Book Award winner and the Golden Canon Leadership Book Award. Again, if you haven’t read it then I profoundly commend Deep Church to you.

Now Jim has written a second […]

A Solo Pianist with a Great Gift and Deep Christian Faith

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 21st, 2014|Categories: Friendship, Music, Personal|

I discovered concert pianist Stanton Lanier through my friend Chris Fabry on his afternoon broadcast on the Moody Broadcast Network during the Advent season. I wrote to Stanton Lanier shortly after I began to listen to his music regularly. Recently we met by telephone and spoke about our faith, personal journey and ministries. I hope and pray that our paths will become even more connected in 2014. This man’s albums are all downloaded on my personal iTunes list. I listen almost every day, especially at quiet moments and during some of my reading and writing on the Internet. His rare gift of instrumental music and deep, abiding faith is like none that I have discovered. The fact that Windham Hill Records has embraced published his solo work says a great deal too. More importantly the man behind this music is a faithful, Christ-centerred artist. I believe in helping such faithful artists do their work. Buy some of Stanton Lanier’s albums if you like what you hear. I think you […]

A New (Ancient) Way to Read the Bible

By John Armstrong|2014-02-19T16:57:46-06:00February 20th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Discipleship, Missional Church, Personal|

Nothing is more important to spiritual growth than regular, meaningful engagement with God’s Word in the power of the Spirit. But it’s not happening in most churches. Nine out of ten churchgoers say they need help in understanding the Bible in depth and four of five say this need is simply not being met in their lives.

I recently spent some enjoyable time with two very good friends who work for Biblica. They are trying to do something to address a serious answer to this issue. Biblica is the Bible Society, formerly known as the International Bible Society, that translates and produces the NIV. Biblica also promotes the recovery of Bible reading as story. Their plan, which I will be promoting and talking about in the days ahead, is called: “The Community Bible Experience.”

http://youtu.be/XfDagPr-k_M

How can you understand the Scripture by engaging with whole books and by “hearing” the story as you should? Biblica has some answers. To learn more check out Community Bible Experience.

You can check out the resources mentioned here, and get more extremely helpful information, at Biblica.

Prayer for the Unity of the Martyrs

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 19th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Prayer, Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Pope Francis recently spoke of an “ecumenism of blood.” He was referring to the martyrs of the Christian faith – those who actually die for faithfully following Christ. I wrote a blog about his statement a few weeks ago. I believe that it summarizes a kind of “bottom line” for true ecumenism. If we can suffer and die as one people, named through our following Christ together, then surely we can find more Spirit-given ways to pursue our unity in the one, holy, apostolic faith that we confess together both in life and in death.

A dear friend, who is serving in Boston and is a graduate of the first ACT3 Missional-Ecumenical Cohort Group, participated in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Boston a few weeks ago. The video that follows is of the entire event which he gave to me via a link to this site. I encourage you to set aside an hour-plus of your time, if you have a real desire, and watch this video so that you might take in this very impressive prayer service for unity.

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Jefferson and Hamilton: The Greatest American Rivalry

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 18th, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, Books, History, Politics|

John Ferling, professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia, is a wonderful writer of history and biography. I know his name through his evocative treatments of major figures in early American history. His special interest has always been the War of Independence, and the more prominent figures of early American history. He has done it again in a new book that I find quite exciting.

I recently began working my way each day through Ferling’s newest book, Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2013). The book can also be purchased in a Kindle version for less than $10. For many years I realized that a number of our modern political debates have their real origin in the views, and even the temperaments, of these two giants of early America. But I had far too little comprehension of just how true this observation was until reading Ferling’s excellent book.

The decade of the 1790s has been called “the decade of passion” for good reason. Fervor for the new […]

A Call to Reject Triumphalism and Embrace Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 17th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Church History, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

I often speak of the scandal of Christian schism. I choose these words carefully. Indeed, they are by now “historic” and imminently important to the pursuit of unity among all Christians at this point in the third millennium. What do I mean by calling our divisions a “scandal?”

I recently came across these words, spoken by Pope Francis, that help me express my sense of this immensely:

Divisions among us, but also divisions among the communities: evangelical Christians, orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians, but why divided? We must try to bring about unity. Let me tell you something, today, before leaving home, I spent 40 minutes more or less, half an hour, with an evangelical pastor. And we prayed together, seeking unity. But we Catholics must pray with each other and other Christians. Pray that the Lord gift us unity!

A Catholic writer by the name of Keith Fournier has helped me for some years in my own journey to ecumenism. Fournier, a Catholic deacon (photo at left), has expressed deep concern about Catholic triumphalism regarding Christian unity. I […]

“Unmarried Young Adults Not Celebrated Here”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 14th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Culture, Current Affairs, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Renewal, The Church, The Future|

When millennials come to embrace the Christian faith they are faced with a major problem when it comes to becoming connected with the life of most congregations. I have witnessed this again and again and saw it plainly during my recent week in Phoenix. In short, I witnessed a new form of separation that has raised a dividing wall between people in the church. This time it is not about race but marriage, children and singleness.

Large numbers of millennials are single. Many will remain single for a long time, at least well into their 30s. And many who do marry will not have children, or at least not more than one child. There are a number of reasons why this is true but none of them have to do with deep convictions so much as fears rooted in the shared experience of millennials who come from broken homes and thus have marriage and parent-child anxieties. Many tell me they want to marry but just not yet. They are very unsure about the institution and have every reason to […]